This invention relates to the cooling of beverages. In particular it relates to the cooling of alcoholic beverages such as beers which may need to be cooled to relatively low temperatures such as about 0xc2x0 C. at the point of dispense.
Although not limited to the cooling of beers, the invention will for convenience be described below with particular reference to beers.
Cooling of beers to temperatures as low as about 0xc2x0 C. and dispensing at that low temperature have proved difficult to achieve with conventional dispense technology and this can deleteriously affect the appearance and presentation of the beer.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved means of cooling beverages, particularly beer, to such low temperatures.
Accordingly, the invention provides an apparatus for cooling a beverage, the apparatus comprising an inlet and an outlet, at least one heat exchanger between the inlet and the outlet through which the beverage can be passed to cool it, and at least one Peltier plate assembly connected to a voltage supply whereby a cold side and a hot side may be generated at the assembly, the assembly being positioned whereby the beverage can also cooled by passage past the cold side of the assembly on its passage to the outlet or whereby the coolant after passage through the heat exchanger is cooled by passage past the cold side of the assembly before being recirculated to the heat exchanger.
The inlet may conveniently be connected to a source or reservoir of the beverage, e.g. a keg of beer, and the beverage may be passed to the inlet by conventional means, e.g. by pumping or under gas pressure.
The heat exchanger may be cooled, for example, by connection to a conventional python to pass cooled water through it.
The outlet may include a dispense point for the beverage or may be connectable to an existing dispense point.
In a first embodiment of the invention the beverage is cooled directly by the Peltier plate assembly and in a second embodiment of the invention the beverage is cooled in a heat exchanger by means of a coolant that has been cooled by the Peltier plate assembly.
It is, of course, possible to combine both embodiments of the invention so that the beverage is cooled directly by Peltier plate assembly and is also cooled in a heat exchanger by means of a coolant that has been cooled by another or the same Peltier plate assembly.
In the first embodiment, the beverage is preferably passed through a series of cooling stages so that its temperature, in the example of beer, may be reduced from, say, 6xc2x0 C. in the source or reservoir to the desired about 0xc2x0 C. Thus, in a particularly preferred specific embodiment, the beverage from the source may first be passed through a heat exchanger to reduce its temperature from, say, 6xc2x0 C. to 3xc2x0 C., then past the cold side of a first Peltier plate assembly to reduce its temperature further to, say 1.5xc2x0 C., and then finally past the cold side of a second Peltier plate assembly to reduce its temperature to, say, 0xc2x0 C. whereby the final desired dispense temperature of, say, 1xc2x0 C. in the glass may be achieved.
In this embodiment the coolant pumped through the heat exchanger may conveniently be cold water from a conventional python.
It will be appreciated that the number and order of the cooling stages may be changed to suit particular circumstances.
In the second embodiment, the beverage is preferably passed from the reservoir through two successive heat exchangers and then to the dispense point. The coolant in the first heat exchanger may be python water and the coolant in the second heat exchanger may be, for example, a glycol/water mixture which is circulated past the cold side of the Peltier plate assembly and then through the second heat exchanger.
In a particularly preferred arrangement of the second embodiment, the python water is circulated through the first heat exchanger and then past the hot side of the Peltier plate assembly before returning to the python for cooling and then passage again to the first heat exchanger. In this arrangement, for beer, the beer may be cooled from about 6xc2x0 C., for example, to about 3xc2x0 C. on exiting the first heat exchanger and then to about 0xc2x0 C. on exiting the second heat exchanger so that it can then be dispensed at about 1xc2x0 C. The python water in this example maybe at about 5xc2x0 C. or 6xc2x0 C. on exiting the first heat exchanger and is still sufficiently cool to extract further heat from the hot side of the Peltier plate assembly before returning to the python.
The coolant, e.g. glycol/water mixture, in this second embodiment may be circulated from a reservoir, kept, for example, at about xe2x88x922xc2x0 C. and linked to the Peltier plate assembly by temperature sensor and control means, known per se, to control the rate of flow to the desired temperature.
Again, it will be appreciated that the number and order of the cooling stages may be changed to suit particular circumstances.
The second embodiment described above may need to be run continuously for periods of time to ensure that the reservoir of coolant (glycol/water) is kept sufficiently cold to cope with peaks of beverage dispensing, i.e. a succession of drinks being dispensed. On the other hand the first embodiment described above is particularly suited to providing very rapid cooling of the beverage and so need be activated only by the activation of the dispense point.
The apparatus of the invention may also be utilised in systems in which the beverage is recirculated to and from the dispense point so that it does not stand for any length of time in the pipework or any reservoir where its condition could deteriorate.
The Peltier plate assemblies for use in the invention are well known per se and comprise a form of thermoelectric heat pump in which the passage of direct current through the plate assembly causes one side of the assembly to cool and the opposite side to heat up.
Conventional pythons are also well known per se.
The invention provides effective means of dispensing cooled beverages with a number of advantages.
There is a minimised risk of contamination of the beverage;
The apparatus can be designed to suit a large range of dispense throughput for a particular time period.
A separate cooled reservoir of the beverage is not required and the beverage, particularly beer, is less likely to suffer deterioration in the cooling/dispensing process.
There may be no heat output in the dispense area.
The cooling apparatus has few or no moving parts and is easy to clean.
The apparatus can be fitted as original equipment in a new dispense arrangement or can readily be retro-fitted into an existing arrangement.
It utilises existing technology in a novel, advantageous manner.